The Serpae Tetra, Hyphessobrycon eques or,Hyphessobrycon serpae is a very attractive little fish. It comes from South America, from The Amazon, Guaporé and Paraguay Rivers. It has also been referred to as Hyphessobrycon callistus. Other common names are the “Blood Characin”, “Blood Tetra”, “Jewel Tetra”, “Red Minor Tetra” and the “Red Serpae”. The Serpae Tetra grows to about one and a half inches long (3.8 cm). It can live up to 7 years old.
Water Conditions
The Serpae Tetra is a tropical fish and is unsuitable for unheated aquariums unless they are kept somewhere that does not get cold. In the wild, Serpae tetras live in soft acidic water, but the will adjust happily to the conditions for a community aquarium with a temperature of 24 degrees C (75 degrees F), with a neutral pH and moderate hardness.
Food
Like many Tetras, the Serpae Tetra is an easily fed omnivore. It will eat any normal aquarium food, I suggest that it be fed a variety of food in different form, including flakes, pellets, frozen food like Blood Worms, and live food like wrigglers or daphnia when these are available. They are not big fish, and do not need a huge amount of food, so a high quality fish food is well worth getting.
Companions
The Serpae Tetra has the reputation of being a minor fin nipper. This slight tendency can be reduced by keeping them in as school of at least six, and in a reasonable sized aquarium (I suggest at least two feet (60 cm) long.) In these conditions they will not cause trouble to most fish, but I would not keep them with long finned and slow moving fish like Siamese Fighting Fish, Guppies of Endlers Guppies.
Some suitable Companions for the Serpae Tetra are Colombian Tetras, Paraguay Tetras, Pristella Tetras, Buenos Aires Tetras, Rummy Nose Tetras, Harlequin Rasboras, Scissortail Rasboras, Lemon Tetras, Black Widow Tetras, Emperor Tetras, Head and Tail Light Tetras, Glass Bloodfin Tetras, Zebra Danios, Glow Light Tetras, White Cloud Mountain Minnows, Tiger Barbs, Cherry Barbs, Rosy Barbs Gold Barbs and Corydoras Catfish.
Avoid large aggressive or predatory fish with Serpae Tetras. As with animals in general, try to keep some similarity in sizes of creatures which are kept together.
Sexing
It is not easy to determine the sex of Serpae tetras, but when in breeding condition, the female will be more rounded.
Breeding
The Serpae Tetra is considered to be one of the easier Tetras to breed. The fish should be conditioned beforehand with rich foods, preferably including live foods.
The Breeding Tank should have some plants including ones with fine leaves. The water should be soft and slightly acidic.
Do not allow your pets to get into an environment that they are not native to.
Sources
I am grateful for the valuable information in the following sources: http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/tetrafish/serpaetetra.php, http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile75.html and http://www.fishlore.com/Profiles-SerpaeTetra.
